BACKGROUND:
The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) each year provides a global platform for exchange and networking for women’s organizations working on furthering women’s rights all across the world, but this year’s session (March) was also the occasion to present the ‘Future organization and methods of work of the CSW which provides less space to NGOs to influence the outcomes of the session, through increasingly limited access to official negotiations and space to contribute to outcome documents. It seems that governments are intent limiting the (sometimes) robust participation of non-governmental organizations, restrict recognition of the human rights of women and girls and the norm-setting role of the CSW in this regard and skirt responsibility for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
The statement says: “It seems they are intent on discussing everything about us, without us….Let us be clear: we do not come to the CSW to attend side events. We come to the CSW to hold our governments to account to the commitments they have made to guarantee gender equality, eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against us and achieve the full realization of all of our human rights. We come to the CSW to advance progressive policies that, if implemented, will make a meaningful difference in our lives. If the CSW no longer provides us with a forum for policy change and accountability that fully involves us, we will stay at home.”
The 2nd Annual Harvard Law International Women’s Day Portrait Exhibit showcases the contributions of women around the world to the areas of law and policy. The honorees—each of whom were nominated by Harvard Law School students, faculty or staff—are too many to mention but my selection of the ones who most represent the momentum of human rights defenders is as follows:
At the 2015 Oslo Freedom Forum (26 May) Australian-Afghan media entrepreneur Saad Mohseni describes how in 2006 he returned to the country of his birth, where he and his brother started by setting up set up a radio station and then a television station in postwar Afghanistan. In a fascinating performance he argues that even after decades of unrest, the country can improve its human rights situation and build a more stable future. According to Mohseni, change has not come about through government or international action alone. Instead, media has played a transformative role in rebuilding Afghanistan. Mohseni tells us about the successes of soap operas in strengthening women’s rights, as well as televised football’s role in bringing citizens together and providing role models. Mohseni believes that Afghanistan has changed significantly due to radio, internet, and television, and that media will continue to play an important role in the future.
Tilder Kumichii is Programme Coordinator at Gender Empowerment and Development (GeED) based in Cameroon.
On 21 April 2015 the International Service for Human Rights [ISHR] carried an interview with Tilder Kumichii, a human rights defender from Cameroon.
‘My motivation to do human rights work stems from my personal experience as a young woman growing up in a patriarchal system, which forced me to marry very young and become a very young widow’. Tilder resolved to devote her life to support other women who find themselves in a similar situation like herself. Describing herself as a woman human rights defender, she stresses that she is involved in both teaching people to understand their rights, as well as seeking accountability for violations and abuses of human rights. Read the rest of this entry »
Twenty years after the Beijing Platform made promising pronouncements, it is sobering to hear from women human rights defenders who are under attack for their work:
Daysi Flores, JASS Honduras country director, talks about the situation in Honduras, where the imprisonment of Gladys Lanza, one of the country’s most respected feminists, marks a fresh low.
Nimalka Fernando, president of the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism in Sri Lanka, talks about the misogynist attacks that she has faced.
Maryam Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, co-director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, looks at the situation for women in Bahrain.
Khouloud Mahdhaoui, a human rights activist in Tunisia, discusses LGBT attacks in her home country.
Phumzile Mlambo Nguka, the executive director of UN Women, explains how the wave of extremism around the world has affected anyone standing up for women’s rights.
Tania Branigan, the Guardian’s China correspondent, talks about the five women who were arrested in the days before International Women’s Day in China, over their plans to highlight sexual harassment.
While on the subject of awards for human rights, I see that I missed the announcement of the winners of the Human Rights award of the French Republic (Prix des Droits de l’homme de la République française) which was made on 9 December 2014. With apologies here it is:
Five NGOs each received 14 000 € to implement their projects which are in line with the two themes selected by the Jury that year: child exploitation and rights of women:
Aurélie Socias, representing the French NGO Sengsavang (formerly called AFESIP Laos).
Agnès Razafindramanga Leteurtre representing the NGO “Enfance et malnutrition” working in Madagascar.
Patricia Beltran, for the NGO Enda El Alto, in Bolivia.
Mokhtar Bassant for the Foundation Gozour (meaning roots) from Egypt.
Harivola Rakotoarindrasata for the Focus Development Association from Madagascar.
5 special mentions as encouragement were also made:
The Anh Duong association in Vietnam
The Shakti Samuha association in Nepal
The association Women’s Empowerment Link in Kenya
The Fight Against Child Exploitation Foundation (FACE) in Thailand
Wirathu:”Just because you hold a position in the United Nations doesn’t make you an honourable woman. In our country, you are just a whore,”
For those who think that hate speech has no place in peace-loving Buddhism, this is sobering item:
A radical Myanmar Buddhist monk, Wirathu, called the U.N. human rights envoy – Ms Yanghee Lee – a “whore”, and accused Lee of bias towards Rohingya Muslims, a stateless minority in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine. Wirathu denounced Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar before a cheering crowd of several hundred people, in a speech in Yangon on Friday, after she questioned draft laws that critics say discriminate against women and non-Buddhists. “You can offer your arse to the kalars if you so wish but you are not selling off our Rakhine State,” he said. Kalars is a derogatory word for people of South Asian descent.
His speech was condemned by Thawbita, a leading member of the progressive Saffron Revolution Buddhist Monks Network in Mandalay, where Wirathu is also based. “The words used that day are very sad and disappointing. It is an act that could hurt Buddhism very badly,” Thawbita told Reuters. But he is unlikely to face censure. A senior official at the Ministry of Religious Affairs told Reuters there were no plans to act against Wirathu. This is the more remarkable as in December a New Zealander and two Burmese were charged with insulting Buddhism. The arrest was triggered by a complaint by an official from the country’s religious department. [see: http://news/world-asia-30527443]
Rapporteur Lee in a statement released by her office on Monday said: “During my visit I was personally subjected to the kind of sexist intimidation that female human rights defenders experience when advocating on controversial issues“.
Last December, Brussels-based Protection International launched a new campaign, ‘The Women Who Defend Human Rights.’ In this series of monthly interviews, figure talks with Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) about their work, challenges and every-day-life.
This month, the interview is with Rehana Hashmi from Pakistan. Rehana has been a defender of human rights since a young age. She is also the founder of two national networks that support women and helps them to take charge of their rights. Due to her work, she has received threats to the point that she has had to flee her native Pakistan. You can now read her full story on PI’s website: http://protectioninternational.org/2015/01/14/the-women-who-defend-human-rights-rehana-hashmi/
(The four winners of this year’s Right Livelihood Award (from left): Asma Jahangir, Bill McKibben, Alan Rusbridger and Basil Fernando. US whistle-blower Edward Snowden (not pictured) also received an honorary award)
Qantara.de 2014 on 9 December 2014 published an interesting interview by Roma Rajpal Weiss with Asma Jahangir, a prominent human rights defenders, winner of the Right Livelihood Award of this year and Laureate of the MEA as far back as 1995. The title “Every restriction is justified in the name of religion” is taken from Asma’s statement that most restrictions on the human rights of women in Pakistan are justified by arguments (perhaps rather feelings) based on religious or tradition. Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 